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1/09/2013

By Pierre Jamault - blueEnergy rendezvoused on October
20th, 2012 in the city of Le Kremlin Bicêtre, close to Paris to host a Wind Turbine Building Workshop. Behind the parking lot we discovered a very well furnished workshop with a dynamic team of
volunteers waiting to show us how a wind turbine
works by building a small one. After coffee, basics instructions
were set up: 1 turbine built by 16 people on 7 workbenches in 2 busy days.

During these two days we had to sand wood, wind copper wire, mold magnets, shape metal and weld it. The
explanations of the team were so efficient that we even had enough time to
listen the presentation of blueEnergy and its activities by co-founder Guillaume Craig.

The variety of needed tools to build the
turbine required some explanation in order to not make any mistakes. Thankfully the instructions and indications given by the volunteers, as well as discussions
with the other participants, were really enriching. The meals prepared by our
host were also great opportunities for other interesting discussions with the participants and hosts.

Welding the body

After all that work and many explanations in a very
(too) short weekend, it wasn’t easy to remember everything but the wind
turbine mechanism seemed clearer. To sum up: to succeed in wind turbine construction, you have to be a great craftsman, a little bit physician and
obviously meteorologist to put it at the good place once it is taken out the
workshop.

Carving the blades

blueEnergy France organizes 2 windturbine workshops per year (next one on Spring 2013, contact emilie.etienne@blueenergygroup.org for more details), with a maximum 12 participants, close to Paris. The windturbines are small models (1 meter diameter), based on the Hugh Piggott model. Although they work well, due to their small size and low power, they are used mainly for learning purposes. We gather people from different backgrounds to attend the workshop: students in renewable energies, retired people willing to know more about the windturbines to build one in their garden and individuals willing to spend an unforgettable week end by working for fun!